6abc caught up in Trump administration’s rare review of Disney’s TV licenses following Jimmy Kimmel joke
The early review comes after President Donald Trump called for ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over a joke he made about Melania Trump.
The Trump administration is launching an early review of Disney’s broadcast television licenses, which includes 6abc (WPVI) in Philadelphia.
The Federal Communications Commission notified Disney of the review Tuesday, according to an FCC filing. It comes after President Donald Trump called for ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over a joke he made Thursday night involving first lady Melania Trump.
“Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said during a segment parodying the White House correspondents’ dinner, which took place a few days later and abruptly ended when a gunman launched an apparent assassination attempt on Trump.
“Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Monday, calling Kimmel’s joke “really shocking.” Melania Trump also criticized the segment, calling Kimmel “a coward” and calling for ABC “to take a stand.”
The FCC said the review stems from an earlier investigation into diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Disney, citing “the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.” The agency is conducting a similar investigation of Comcast, which owns NBC.
Last month, FCC chairman Brendan Carr suggested Disney’s support of DEI programs in their hiring practices could cost them their broadcast licenses.
“If the evidence does in fact play out and shows that they were engaged in race- and gender-based discrimination, that’s a very serious issue at the FCC, that could fundamentally go to their character qualifications to even hold a license,” Carr said on Fox News.
Despite that, critics claim the timing of the move suggests it’s retaliation by the Trump administration against Kimmel, a longtime Trump foe who Carr and others unsuccessfully tried to force off the air last year.
FCC commissioner Anna M. Gomez called the early license renewal a “political stunt” doomed to fail.
“This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere,” Gomez, the only remaining Democratic FCC commissioner, wrote on social media Tuesday. “Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side.”
A Disney spokesperson said in a statement the company has “a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules” and is “prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”
6abc did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FCC is also investigating ABC’s The View over potential violations of the agency’s equal time rule after Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, a Democrat, appeared as a guest on the show in February.
Talarico also sat for an interview with CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, but the network prevented the segment from airing on TV. Instead, it was uploaded to YouTube.
How will 6abc and other stations be impacted?
Eight local stations owned and operated by ABC are impacted by the review, all located in the largest TV markets in the country.
In addition to Philadelphia, ABC owns WABC in New York City, KABC in Los Angeles, WLS in Chicago, and KTRK in Houston. Stations in San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno, Calif., are also part of the review.
6abc renewed its broadcast license in 2023 for eight years, and it’s extremely rare for the FCC to launch an early review.
“That’s a form of challenging the license. That’s a form of punishing ABC,” CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter said on the network Tuesday.
The FCC has not revoked a broadcast license from a TV station in more than 40 years, and it had nothing to do with politics. The last time it happened was 1987, when the FCC stripped RKO General Inc. of its licenses in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles because of business misconduct.
No changes are expected for 6abc while the FCC conducts its review of Disney, which has until May 28 to file license renewals to the FCC. The process could take months, if not years, and most experts don’t think ABC’s broadcast licenses are in much danger.
The FCC doesn’t have the power on its own to revoke ABC’s broadcast license — the case would ultimately be decided by an administrative law judge, whose ruling could be challenged by both the full commission and in federal court, according to the FCC’s website.
